Hi birders,
This is a non-profit trip.
I've chartered the new expedition yacht Convergence for the first ever birding
trip from Broome to Christmas Island in 2010. Its an 8 day trip from the
19-26th Sept 2010. This is the best time of year as seabirds are numerous, the
ocean is generally calm and Asian species are migrating south. These calm
conditions make for easy seabird and cetacean viewing.
Convergence is a brand new purpose built expedition yacht, which is in the
final phases of fit out and we’ll be amongst its first passengers. Convergence
has been
constructed specifically for Southern Ocean and Antarctic science, expedition
and film work. It has a modular interior design that can be configured to meet
the needs of the charterer and the fitting of anything from laboratories, cold
rooms and computer terminals through to a gymnasium if required. Its not only
practical but also a comfortable home, with 4 separate cabins with varying bunk
configurations, ducted heating, aircon, leather recliners, spa and
indoor-outdoor entertainment systems. The owner will be fitting additional
freezer space for this trip.
Commencing in Broome, we’ll sail N/W towards Scott Reef and then westward over
the shelf into the rarely visited deep water near Australia’s EEZ. I’ve done a
few Ashmore Reef Pelagic Trips and with time constraints we’ve always gone
frustratingly close to the edge of the shelf where the Indian Ocean drops
thousands of feet in depth. On this trip we’ll travel along our EEZ over 400km
offshore into very deep water and hopefully some exciting new seabird sightings.
The trip will take 7 days and I've added an extra day for burley stops off the
Australian coast and once we get within 200nm of Christmas Island. We'll be
slowing down when reach 200nm (370km) from CI.
This is the first time this trip has ever been conducted and there's the
possibility of seeing some very exciting birds. Seabirds should include,
Bulwer's Petrel, Swinhoe's Storm Petrel, Matsudaira's Storm Petrel, Jouanin's
Petrel, Tahiti Petrel, Streaked SW and a good variety of terns, booby,
frigatebirds, tropicbirds etc. Other possibles include Leach's Storm Petrel,
Tropical Shearwater, Herald Petrel, Barau’s Petrel and of course a huge variety
of cetaceans. I'm expecting we'll see 12-15 species of cetaceans.
Perhaps most exciting of all, is the chance of rare migratory Asian species,
investigating or landing on our boat.
By adding an extra day we'll have time to stop and burley when there's a lot of
bird activity about. This will also be a great opportunity to photograph some
of these rare seabirds, particularly in the very deep water 50-370km off
Christmas Island.
The trip starts in Broome and finishes on CI. The cost for 8 days is $3700.
There will be 8 birders on board + guide + 3 crew. Some keen seabirders have
already grabbed most spots but there are still a couple of vacancies.
If you're interested in coming along let me know. Should be an awesome trip.
Cheers
Richard Baxter
__________________________________________________________________________________
Get more done like never before with Yahoo!7 Mail.
Learn more: http://au.overview.mail.yahoo.com/
==============================www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
=============================
|
